OSHA foresaw potential disaster at Palisades project site last year; cited contractor for federal standard violations
- Admin
- Oct 17, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 23, 2025
GEPA, DPW begin probe into landslide that jeopardizes what has been touted as 'Guam’s most desirable address'
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
The Guam Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation into the landslide on a development site in Maite, which swept a massive amount of dirt down Marine Corps Drive in East Hagåtña amid heavy downpour on the morning of Oct. 15.
As early as April last year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
had identified the dangerous conditions at The Palisades Estates subdivision project site, warning the contractor, Giant Construction Corp., of a disaster waiting to happen due to its violations of federal safety standards.
According to OSHA, Giant Construction has a "history of failing to protect its employees working in trenches from potentially deadly harm." The federal agency fined the contractor $1 million "for exposing its workers to fatal dangers."
The Palisades Estates, being developed by Tasi Vista Development Co., is designed as a “private, gated neighborhood" crowning the cliffline with "62 single-family home lots, along with designated areas for a boutique condominium, townhomes and a village marketplace.”
“The Palisades offers a rare opportunity to build your dream home in an established and thriving area of Maite,” Jennifer Calvo, senior project manager of Tasi Vista, said in a press release on Aug. 4.
During a site inspection at a worksite in The Palisades project last year, federal investigators found employees who were installing sewer lines in trenches deeper than 5 feet without required safety equipment, OSHA said.
Giant Construction is a general contractor specializing in residential and commercial construction.
OSHA said trench collapses are among the construction industry’s most serious dangers. "Excavations can collapse in seconds and lead to serious and often fatal injuries as workers are buried under cubic yards of soil, each weighing as much as 3,000 lbs," the agency said in a press release last year.
Giant Construction declined to comment.
According to its website, The Palisades "offers unmatched value, security and location" with "thoughtfully designed infrastructure."
Guam EPA said it will collaborate with the Department of Public Works to look into the cause of the soil erosion that prompted a stop-work order on The Palisades project.
The agencies will also assess the damage the landslide may have caused to the Tiyan stormwater system and identify the responsible parties and quantify subsequent losses, damages, cleanup and restoration efforts.
The investigating team will determine if Tasi Vista's project complied with GEPA standards before the landslide.
In a statement on Oct. 15, Tasi Vista representative Eduardo Calvo, said the Palisades’ underground infrastructure was designed to withstand severe weather.
“Months ago, we also integrated interim drainage and supplemental containment systems under the direction of GEPA to secure the construction site, including temporary ponding basins,” Calvo said.
He added that the temporary ponding basins and mitigation measures were seemingly uncompromised and there had been no erosion on any of The Palisades lots observed during an inspection of the project this morning.
He said it appeared that an aged concrete drainage pipe from an old stormwater system failed during the record rainfall last night and this morning, releasing excessive water and sedimentary debris onto Marine Corps Drive.
GEPA said it will adopt measures to prevent further cliffside erosion and landslides by diverting stormwater runoff from above the cliffside and resulting discharges into bay.
The investigation will seek to determine any environmental and marine impacts caused by the landslide in Agana Bay and how to mitigate, clean up and restore in the near future.
The stop work order requires Palisades Estates to cease further developmental construction and also requires them to immediately drain or discharge sediment ponds currently filled with runoff water and away from the cliffside
and affected area, to ensure no discharge offsite in the event of intense runoff resulting from future rain.
Today’s Realty announced the official release of home lots at The Palisades on Aug 4, describing the project as a residential community "poised to become Guam’s most desirable address for luxury island living.”
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